


To Get to You

by PaintedVanilla



Series: days on end [18]
Category: Hamilton - Miranda
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, F/M, First Kiss, First Meetings, Getting Together
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-07
Updated: 2017-03-07
Packaged: 2018-09-30 19:40:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,522
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10170347
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PaintedVanilla/pseuds/PaintedVanilla
Summary: Thomas and Martha were in France for two weeks, and despite this James still found himself sitting next to Dolley on a bench across the street from a dog park.





	

 

Dolley’s favorite part of any past relationship had been flirting; being flirted with and being complimented; the cheek kisses and the corny pickup lines. She loves flirting - she could do it in her sleep. She loves feeling admired and wanted, and the gentle touches on the arm and the hand and the shoulder are good. Flirting is the only time anyone seems to know when not to overstep their boundaries; when to ask for everything; when to get to know someone.

In the past, men have been suave - Dolley is pretty and she’s out of college and she’s unmarried. She doesn’t seem so willing at first glance, mostly because after the last few times she _isn’t._ She refuses to trust on first glance anymore, which adds another layer to be broken into by charm.

She’s been flirted with; she’s been charmed and she’s been seduced. She knows what it’s like to be wanted and admired and courted, in a sense.

James Madison manages to do all of that before either of them even knew what was happening.

It was a muggy day; it was hot and humid and Dolley was out with Martha, someplace she can’t remember the name of now. Martha’s wedding was in three months, she was counting the days and she was constantly stressed over one thing or another and Dolley was the maid of honor, so she usually was, too.

Martha received a text from whatever place was doing the food for them, and then Dolley was being dragged three blocks to the restaurant because something needed to be discussed, “You can come in or you can wait, it’s up to you.” Martha said when they got there, and Dolley smiled.

“I’ll sit - if I come in they might think _we’re_ getting married.” Dolley told her, and Martha smiled coyly.

“You wouldn’t marry _me?”_ she asked, and Dolley grinned.

“I’d marry the shit out of you, but you’re already engaged.” and Martha threw her head back and laughed before pulling the door open and disappearing inside.

She sat down and pulled her phone out; she was going to play Neko Atsume when someone called her name. She looked up to see Thomas ten paces down the sidewalk from her, walking with someone else, so she put her phone down and smiled at them.

“Martha’s inside, if you’re wondering.” she said when they reached her, and Thomas hummed.

“Thanks.” he said, before turning to his friend, “Are you coming in or staying out here?”

“I’ll stay.” his friend said, and Thomas hummed again before disappearing inside, and the man sat down next to her on the bench.

He was short and chubby, with dark skin and eyes and short cropped hair; he avoided her eye when he sat next to her, but that didn’t deter her, “I’m Dolley.” she said conversationally, “I’m Martha’s maid of honor.”

The man glanced at her, “I’m James.” he said, “I’m the best man.”

“You and Thomas must be close, then?” Dolley concluded, and he shrugged, “how long have you known him?”

“We met in middle school.” he offered simply, “How, uh, how long have you known Martha?”

“Middle school.” she said, smiling, and the conversation fizzled, so she turned her phone back on to properly check on her cats.

She was going through the motions when James spoke again, “You play the cat game?”

Dolley paused, then looked up at him, “Wow, fake fan.”

He stared at her, “What?”

“‘The cat game’?” she quoted, and he flushed, looking away from her.

“I don’t - ” he paused, “I don’t know how to pronounce it.” he admitted, and she snorted; he glanced back at her to find her smiling at him.

“Neko Atsume.” she told him, “Now the important questions - how many times has Peaches visited you?”

“Thirty six.” he said, without even looking away, and Dolley snorted again.

“You know that off the top of your head?” she asked, and he smiled a little bit.

“I checked this morning.” he explained.

“Well, how do you know she’s not in your yard right now?” she asked, and James eyes got slightly wider; he pulled his phone out of his pocket and she snorted a third time, watching him unlock it and check his yard. Peaches had not visited again, but one of the rare cats was in his yard for the first time and he took a picture of it.

“How many times has she visited you?” he asked when he put his phone away, and she smiled.

“A hundred and three.” she said, and he stared at her.

“You’re joking.”

“I’m not.”

“You’re _cheating.”_

“I’m _not!”_ she said, her eyes her eyes twinkling, and he looked away from her.

“That’s not fair.” he declared, and she smiled.

“Peaches loves me. And I’ve been playing the game since I was a sophomore in college.”

James frowned, “That _is_ cheating. I’ve been playing since I was a senior in college.”

“How old are you?” Dolley asked.

“I’m twenty five.” he told her, and she blinked.

“Wow - that is kind of sad.” Dolley admitted, and James looked back at her, “Peaches must hate you.”

“Gee, thanks.” James muttered, but it had a hint of playfulness underneath it, which made Dolley smile.

The door opened again and Martha appeared before Thomas, “It’s fine.” Martha declared, turning to the two of them, “They just wanted more details and they said it would be _too difficult_ to discuss over the phone.” she rolled her eyes but she smiled, “Anyways, we can go back to what we were doing, or we can go to lunch now?”

“Something tells me you want to go to lunch now with your fiancé?” Dolley guessed, and Martha smiled at her, “Well in that case I’m probably just going to go home - ”

“No, no,” Thomas said quickly, “That’s okay - you and James should come, too.” he looked to James, “Is that cool?”

“Yeah - I love to third wheel.” he said sarcastically, and Dolley snorted again.

“My life.” she agreed, and they both stood from the bench and Thomas laughed shortly.

“What did I say?” he asked Martha, who was looking at him strangely, “I _told you_ Dolley was taller than James.”

And he was right; James was at least two inches shorter than her, and Dolley had to stop herself from laughing, “I’m only 5”6.”

“James is 5”4.” Thomas declared before James could stop him, “But it doesn’t matter, let’s go.” he turned, taking Martha’s hand in his in one swift movement, to which she preened happily and walked along side him. Dolley and James followed; they walked in silence for a long moment before Thomas turned back to her, “Do you think you could pick him up?”

And Dolley laughed.

…

Martha’s wedding was in one month, and she pulls Dolley to the side one day after yet another lunch where she and James had to third wheel, together, and she says, “Oh my god, you have a crush on him.”

Dolley stares at her blankly, “I have a what?”

“You have a crush on James!” Martha practically squeals, grabbing Dolley’s arm and pulling on it excitedly; Dolley pushes her off.

“No I don’t.” she insists, “I’m twenty-five, Martha, I’m too _old_ to have crushes.”

“You have _such_ a crush on him.” Martha continues, “I can tell.”

“You can’t tell shit,” Dolley says defensively, “I don’t have a crush on him.”

“Then why do you two keep on going off and having one on one conversations when we all hang out, _hmm?”_ Martha asks, and Dolley rolls her eyes.

“Um, maybe it’s because we keep coming to lunch with an engaged couple? And there are more interesting things in the world to talk about than flower arrangements?” she explains, but Martha still smiles at her.

“Do you have his number?”

“Yes.”

“Show me your conversation.”

“You’re so fucking _extra!”_ Dolley complains as she pulls her phone out.

“Oh, shut up! You love me!” Martha declares as she watches Dolley unlock her phone and pull her messages up. She opens her conversation with James and Martha takes the phone out of her hand without asking, leaning against the wall and starting to scroll.

“I literally hate you.” Dolley said, folding her arms, “There’s nothing there! I think we’ve literally just been sending each other memes.”

“That’s the highest tier of flirting.” Martha said, and Dolley groaned.

“It is _not!”_ she argued, “The highest tier of flirting is buying someone a drink.”

“Nope.” Martha told her, never removing her eyes from Dolley’s phone, “That’s definitely effective, but that’s not how anybody meets their soulmate. That’s how you get laid.”

Dolley glowered at her, but stayed quiet while Martha scrolled; finally she said, “I didn’t realize talking about how you were both single was a meme.”

Dolley blushed bright red, “Give me my phone.”

“But there’s nothing here!” Martha cried, mocking Dolley’s tone from earlier; Dolley snatched her phone out of her hands and put it back in her pocket, frowning at Martha.

“You’re the worst.” she said, and Martha grinned.

“I’m just saying he’s cute!” she told her, pushing herself away from the wall, “And I think he likes you, too.”

“You’re so weird.” Dolley said, “Can we please go back to lunch? They’re probably wondering why you dragged me off.”

“I dragged you off because I caught you making eyes at him.” Martha said knowingly, and Dolley turned away from her.

“Shut up.” she said quietly, and Martha grabbed her arm.

“Hey,” she said, her tone suddenly soft, “Dolley, I’m just teasing. If you don’t like him, you don’t like him, I’m not gonna make you ask him out or anything.” Dolley still wasn’t looking at her, “Doll - I’m sorry. I’ll back off.” she paused, “But...if you _do_ have a thing for him, I think you should ask him out.”

“Shut _up.”_ Dolley snapped, and Martha pulled her back towards her.

“Dolley,” she said seriously, “I know you think all guys are shit at this point - and most of them _are_ \- but James is sweet.” Dolley was still frowning, “I’m _serious._ I once watched him run into a bench and then he apologized to it.”

Dolley relented, the tiniest hint of a smile showing on her face, and Martha grinned at her, “There you go - he’s a cutie. And so are you. And I think he’s a virgin.”

“Shut up!” Dolley said, but she was laughing.

…

“Don’t you have a plus one?” James asked; they were sitting together at the reception, at a table completely to themselves. Dolley rolled her eyes, but she was smiling.

“I don’t have that many guy friends.” she told him, “I guess I could’ve invited someone from work, but I don’t really know any of my coworkers well enough to bring them to a wedding.”

James looked away, “Same.” he paused, glancing back at her, “You couldn’t have brought a girl?”

Dolley hummed, “I mean, theoretically yeah. I guess I could have. I wouldn’t have had any issues with that. It’s just - Martha’s family is kind of…” she paused, “I thought about it, but it would’ve just made things weird. Also, my closest friends besides Martha are all married.” she paused, “All my friends are married.”

James looked away again, “Same.” he repeated quietly, and she turned to him.

“Why don’t you have a plus one?” she asked conversationally, and he shrugged.

“Thomas is...pretty much the only person I hang out with.” he told her, “I mean, I guess I hang out with Aaron, but I don’t think he’s really friends with anybody. At least, I don’t think he’d agree to come to a wedding with me.”

Dolley sighed, “I thought about bringing this guy in my building, but I didn’t wanna give him the wrong idea.” she admitted, and James looked up at her, clearly listening, “I mean, he’s cool and all, but he keeps trying to come onto me, and I don’t think he would’ve understood the ‘just friends’ thing.”

James was quiet for a moment, “Yeah,” he finally said, and she hummed.

“So what about you?” she asked, and he stared at her, “Any cute bachelorettes chasing after you?”

James actually laughed, “That’s - um - no. Never.” he said quietly; he cleared his throat and tried again, “I haven’t really dated...ever.” he admitted.

“Ever?”

“I...had a crush on a girl in high school.”

“Me, too!”

They laughed.

“But seriously,” he shifted in his chair, “Thomas is the last of my friends to get married, my little sister is engaged, and I, uh…”

“Own a cat?” Dolley guessed.

“Actually I’m allergic.” James told her, “But, I guess I’m...married to my job.”

“Boo.” Dolley said playfully, and he smiled, “You sound like that Hamilton guy.”

“Ugh, God,” James muttered, rolling his eyes, “Don’t even say that. He’s married to his job _and_ his wife.”

“That’s cheating!”

“I know!”

“We should say something to her.”

“I think she knows.”

Dolley shook her head, “Living with a mistress.” she paused, catching herself, and fell quiet. James looked at her strangely.

“Are you okay?” he asked, and Dolley cleared her throat.

“Fine.” she said softly, “Just...remembering someone.”

He stared at her.

“How long have we known each other?” she asked him suddenly, and he looked somewhat startled before she said, “Two, three months?” she paused, waiting for his input; he nodded, so she continued, “I guess that’s enough time to unlock my tragic past.” she said, and he sat, waiting, so she took a deep breath, “the last two boyfriends I had cheated on me.”

James frowned, “That’s shitty.”

“Yeah,” Dolley said, “And it’s -” she huffed out a laugh, “It actually gets worse because the second guy? I knew about it.”

James stared at her, “What?”

“Yeah! I found out about it! The first guy, it caught me totally off guard, like, I never expected it. And with the second guy I _thought_ everything was going great, but...I guess I wasn’t doing a very good job.”

“At what?”

“Being a good girlfriend!”

“Being a girlfriend isn’t a job.”

“Don’t be silly.” she said, and he looked like he was going to say something else but he stopped himself.

Instead, he said, “So what did you do?”

“Huh?”

“What did you do when you found out?”

“Oh! Uh...nothing.”

“What?!”

“I just...didn’t say anything. I figured maybe it was my fault, somehow? That I wasn’t doing...enough? We dated for like another year and a half.”

“Why did you break up?”

She sighed, “I caught him on purpose. I got tired. I don’t know.” she paused, “does that make me a bad person?”

James blinked, “Does - what?”

“Does me...not being able to deal with that? Make me a bad person?”

James frowned, “Dolley, not wanting someone to cheat on you is _normal.”_ he told her, “cheating is the shittiest thing a person can do in a relationship. I mean, I’ve never _been_ in one, but I’d want someone to at least be honest about not loving me anymore and break it off _before_ they slept with somebody else.”

“He did love me.” Dolley said defensively.

“If he slept with someone else, he didn’t love you.” James said seriously, and Dolley looked away.

“I’m going to ruin my eye makeup.” she muttered, and James’ eyes widened.

“Please don’t cry.” he said quickly, “I - I didn’t mean to make you cry, I just -”

“It’s fine.” Dolley said, “I...really don’t care anymore.” she rolled her eyes, “I’m probably never gonna get married,” she said casually, “and, besides, after watching Marth deal with this, I don’t think I want to.”

James looked away, “That’s discouraging.” he muttered, and Dolley turned to look at him again.

“Huh?”

“Nothing,” he said quickly, “What I mean is - you’re really nice. And I’m sure you’ll find someone nice who wants to date you. Just you.”

Dolley leaned back in her chair, “Fat chance.” she murmured, before she checked her phone, “Is it too early to start drinking?”

James paused, “What time is it?”

“Four-thirty.” she told him, and he bit his lip.

“Maybe a little early…” he said, and she smiled at him.

“Ah, c’mon, come get a drink with me?” she asked, and he glanced at her; the wedding was the first time he’d ever seen her with her hair down, or with eyeliner on, and he was so very weak.

“Okay.” he said finally, and she beamed at him.

…

Thomas and Martha were in France for two weeks, and despite this James still found himself sitting next to Dolley on a bench across the street from a dog park.

Dolley took a sip of her coffee, “I always wanted a dog.”

James took a sip of his, “Me, too.”

“My dad says they’re too much work.” Dolley said, “And I agree, now that I’m old enough. When I was a kid I just wanted one because I didn’t realize they were such a hassle.”

James stared straight ahead, “I’m allergic.”

“Damn.” Dolley said softly, and he laughed.

“I swear to God, I’m sick every other week.”

“You weren’t sick last week at the wedding.”

“Do you know how much Dayquil I had in me?”

“James!”

“What?!”

“You were drinking!”

“I guess I was.”

Dolley shoved him lightly and he laughed again; they went back to sitting in comfortable silence.

She kept looking at him out of the corner of her eye; damn Martha. Damn her for being right. James was cute. James was so cute in his jeans and his button up. James was _so_ cute in everything he did and the only thing keeping Dolley from leaning across the bench and kissing him was that betrayal almost seemed promised.

…

Two days before Martha and Thomas get back from France, Dolley asks, “Is this a date?”

James looks up from checking on his cats, “Huh?”

“Is this a date?” she asks again, “Have any of these been dates? Or are we just hanging out...as friends?”

James was staring at her, “Do...you want to just be hanging out? As friends?”

“I don’t know.” Dolley said, leaning back in her seat, “I mean, we just keep getting coffee and then sitting and looking at this stupid dog park! Neither of us have ever even owned a dog! Do _you_ want them to be dates?”

James chews at his lip and seems to think about it, “I...think so?” he asks, and she frowns.

“It’s a yes or no question, James.”

“I don’t know! I’ve never been on a date!”

“Well, if you say yes, then you’re currently on your third.”

“Then yes!” James says quickly, before seeming to think better of himself, “I mean - if you want them to be?”

Dolley stares at him for a long time, “Can I kiss you?”

James stands bolt upright and Dolley immediately flinches, “Sorry - that was too much, I -”

 _“I’ve never kissed anyone before!”_ James said quickly, and Dolley stopped.

“Oh.”

“Sorry.”

“It’s okay.”

James turns away from her and puts his face in his hands, “Shit,” he mutters, and Dolley frowns.

“James?” she says gently, “Will you come sit back down?”

James looks up, but rather than at her he gazes across the street, “I think I’m better off going over there.”

“You’re allergic.”

“Exactly.”

 _“James.”_ Dolley says, and he turns to look at her, “Will you please come sit with me?”

He does so, slowly coming back over to the bench and sitting back down next to him, “I’m sorry.”

“You didn’t do anything _wrong.”_ Dolley insists, but he still looks miserable.

“I’ve never done this before.” he tells her, and she looks at him sternly.

“So?” she asks, “Do you think I had any idea what to do when I had my first kiss?”

James looks down, “No.”

“Can I kiss you?” Dolley asks again, and James hesitates.

He scrapes the heel of his shoe against the sidewalk, and finally he says, “Okay.”

“Look at me.” Dolley says softly, and he turns his head to face her; she places a hand on his shoulder and leans in close to his face, giving him a chaste kiss on the lips before she pulls away, “Okay?”

He’s quiet for a moment, “That was small.”

“It’s kind of overrated.” she admits, “but now you’ve got your first kiss out of the way.”

He was still for a long moment, before he said, “Do you think I could get my second out of the way, too?”

She smiled at him, leaning forward; this time he meets her in the middle and it lasts a second longer before he pulls away, “Sorry -”

“Don’t.” Dolley said quickly, “I know how you feel, I remember it vividly. Breathe.”

James takes a shaky breath, before he says, “Can I kiss you?”

Dolley stares at him, “I - haven’t been asked that since my first kiss.”

“When was that?”

“Almost ten years ago.”

“That’s quite rude.”

Dolley laughs, and then they’re both quiet.

He was looking up at her, “Can I kiss you?”

She was looking down at him, “Yes, please.”

**Author's Note:**

> This took me a month to write and I banged most of it out this afternoon I want somebody to kill me. AnYwAyS I hope you enjoyed this!! If you did please leave a comment I will blush and get very embarrassed thank you in advance!! I'd love to hear feedback I live for validation!! :))


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